Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the desire to personalize their device’s interface to make it more informative and stylish.One of the most popular elements that users are eager to add to the home screen or lock screen is the watch. It’s not just a design element, but also a functional widget that allows you to instantly read the time, date and sometimes even weather without unlocking the gadget completely.
The installation process of the watch widget can vary depending on the version of the operating system, whether it is a classic MIUI or a new HyperOS. The interface of the Android shell from the Chinese manufacturer offers ample customization options, but standard menus sometimes hide the necessary options. In this article, we will discuss in detail all ways to add watches, from standard methods to the use of third-party applications.
Some users mistakenly believe that for a beautiful display of time, you must download suspicious software. In fact, the built-in functionality of Xiaomi smartphones allows you to perform most tasks without risking system security. We will look at the regular tools that you already have and explain how to activate them correctly.
Use of standard MIUI and HyperOS widgets
The easiest and most reliable way to set the clock to the desktop is to use the built-in library of widgets, which requires you to go to the home screen and make a long press on the free area or pinch with two fingers, which will open the editing menu, where the Widget button is located at the bottom of the screen.
In the list that opens, you have to scroll up or search to find the Clock category, and here you have a range of design options, from minimalistic digital to complex analog dials, and when you pick up a widget, you drag it to the free space of the screen, and then it activates immediately.
Importantly, new versions of HyperOS have made widgets more flat and adaptive, some of which support resizing, and if you pull the edge of the widget, you can expand it by adding a date, pedometer or weather forecast display, which makes a simple time indicator a full-fledged information center.
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To save battery power, choose widgets without a second hand and with a minimum number of updates per minute.
Consider that the number of styles available depends on the theme you have installed. If standard options seem boring to you, changing the theme in the Themes app can add brand new, unique watch designs created by third-party artists to the widget menu.
Setting the clock on the lock screen
The lock screen is the first thing a user sees when they pick up a phone. Xiaomi has a separate mechanism for setting the time display in this mode. The standard way is through the Settings menu → Lock screen. Here you can choose from several styles: classic, minimalist or stylized for a specific topic.
Special attention should be paid to the function “Shop lock themes”. In some regions and firmware versions, this section allows you to load dynamic wallpapers where the clock is part of the animation. For example, when you turn on the screen, numbers can effectively appear due to objects in the foreground. However, such “heavy” themes can consume more energy.
⚠️ Attention: Using dynamic lock themes with complex animations can lead to accelerated battery discharge, especially on models with a high-performance battery. AMOLED-screens, unless the correct screen time is set.
Also available in lock screen settings is the 24-hour or 12-hour time display option, which will automatically apply to all system widgets and status bars, ensuring uniformity of the interface.
For users who want maximum detail, the “Always On Display” feature is available, which allows the watch to remain visible even when the phone is lying on the table in sleep mode. This setting is located along the way Settings → Lock screen → Always On Display.
Application of third-party applications for customization
If the standard features aren’t enough, Google Play Market apps come to the rescue, with Widgetsmith or watch widgets like HD Widgets leading the way, allowing you to create widgets of any shape, color, and size, which are then integrated into the MIUI shell.
Once you install an app like this, the process of adding to your desktop looks different: you choose a system widget, but you don't find the "Hours" in the list of apps, but the name of the installed program, and inside the widget, you open the settings of the app itself, where you can download your fonts, background images and adjust transparency.
- 🕰️ HD Widgets: A huge library of ready-made designs and the ability to fine-tune each element.
- 🎨 Overdrop: Widgets that automatically change the color gamut depending on the time of day.
- ⚡ Transparent Clock & Weather: Lightweight solution with transparent background support and minimal resource consumption.
- 🌍 World Clock Widget: Ideal for those who need to monitor time in different time zones at the same time.
Using third-party software gives flexibility, but requires attention to permissions. The application will require geolocation access for precise time and weather, and permission to display over other windows. Always check reviews before installing to avoid programs with intrusive advertising.
Installation of the clock through the application "Themes"
Xiaomi’s official Themes store is a powerful tool that is often underrated, and you can find not only wallpapers, but entire widget packages developed by the community, and you can access them by opening the Themes app, going to a profile (human icon) and selecting the Widgets section or searching by the Clock tag.
Downloaded widget themes are applied globally or selectively, some packages replace only icons, others change the system clock on the lock screen and in the notification curtain, which allows you to radically change the appearance of the interface without obtaining root rights.
| Type of topic | Impact on the system | Complexity of installation |
|---|---|---|
| Theme of the design | Changes icons, menus, colors and system clocks | Low (automatically) |
| Widget package | Adds new styles only for the desktop | Medium (manual selection required) |
| The subject of lockdown | Changes the off screen and always on display | Low. |
| font | Changes the digits in all widgets | Low. |
When you download themes from third-party sources (not from the official store), the system can issue a security alert. This is the standard procedure for verifying a developer's signature. If you download a topic from a trusted forum (for example, 4PDA or XDA), you can ignore the warning, but files from unknown sources are better not to install.
Solution: The widget is not working or has disappeared
Often, users are faced with a situation where the set clock stops showing the current time or simply disappears from the screen after rebooting. The first thing to check the energy saving settings is the MIUI system aggressively kills background processes, and the watch widget can be turned off along with them.
To solve the problem, go to Settings → Applications → All applications, find the watch widget used (or the Watch system application), and select Energy Saving. Here you should set the No Limits mode, which will prevent the system from stopping the process of updating time.
☑️ Diagnostics of the watch widget
Another reason could be a crowded launcher cache: If the desktop is unstable, widgets can "fly off." Clearing the cache of the "Lead" app (or system launcher) in the application management menu often solves the problem without losing personal data.
⚠️ Warning: Do not remove the Watch or Security system app, even if it is not explicitly used. Many widgets depend on their libraries, and deleting will lead to the disappearance of time widgets.
Additional settings and personalization
For those who want to go further, there are advanced customization methods, such as using Shizuku in conjunction with widgets, allowing you to get time and event data directly from the system, bypassing the standard limitations of Android. This requires a computer connection or wireless debugging, but gives you incredible flexibility.
Time synchronization is also worth mentioning. In the Settings menu → Additional settings → Date and time are recommended to enable automatic synchronization over the network. This ensures that your widgets will never show the wrong time due to manual errors or switching to daylight saving time in other regions.
The Secret of Exact Time
Remember that the size of the widget on the screen depends on the desktop grid. By changing the size of the grid in the screen settings (Settings → Desktop → Grid), you can make the watch larger or, conversely, more compact by putting it into your ideal interface.
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The flexibility of customizing the watch on Xiaomi is limited only by the user’s imagination: from simple system widgets to complex third-party solutions, everyone will find an option for themselves.